I really didn't like the Garbo's performance. I think she was overacting almost all the time [too obvious], whereas Crawford did a GREAT JOB. Her beauty in it was absolutely stunning, and her performance was indeed terrific, for me, even better than in Mildred Pierce.
To err is human, but it feels divine.
-Mae West-
I would,nt say it was better than "Mildrean Pierce", but Joan did steal the whole movie. I love how she and Garbo (who didn't have any scenes together) go off with a Barrymore brother (who also didn;'t have any scenes together).
"Don't lets ask for the moon when we have the stars."
I would,nt say it was better than "Mildrean Pierce"
Come and meet those dancing feet,
On the avenue I'm taking you to,
Forty-Second Street
Well, I don't think Grand Hotel is a very realistic movie I mean, people dieing by shoes? But Joan's performance was pretty realistic.
[purple]You're obviously not a woman.[purple]
You're right. I was talking just about her wonderful performance, not about the movie.
Come and meet those dancing feeeeet,
On the avenue I'm taking to you,
Forty-Second Street
Haha okay. Becuase when people start beliving things like that could happen, we have some problems. lol
You're obviously not a woman.
He didn't die 'by shoes'. He was beaten with a shoe. People get beaten to death with all sorts of weird instruments.
shareIn the movies, yes, but not in actual life.
You're obviously not a woman.
This is a bizarre thing to post about but it made me remember when I was a little kid in the 50s and I'd go to visit my Grandpa. He still had shoes that he'd purchased in the 30s and 40s. I'd try to walk in them, carry them around, you know? I found them kinda fascinating. (I was like 3 years old, okay?) In those days you didn't go out and buy shoes 3 or 4 times a year, you wore a quality pair of shoes a long time and had them repaired when they got worn. Any way I remember that some of the dress shoes that my Grandfather had were like gunboats you put on your feet, I mean like, no kidding, a couple pounds apiece with layered leather heels and thick soles. Used as a club I think a guy like Wallace Beery could beat a guy the size and frame of John Barrymore to death with one. Maybe not as quickly as occured in this picture but I think it could be done. Sounds like a job for "Mythbusters".
sharejoan is so stunning and deffinatly steals the show. i love the flirtation between her and barrymore, very sexy
share> no kidding, a couple pounds apiece with layered leather heels
> and thick soles. Used as a club
Very amusing and nicely remembered.
> In those days you didn't go out and buy shoes 3 or 4 times a year
Some people still buy shoes by that. :)
In the USA Alden still makes shoes like that. Allen-Edmonds too. There used to be many more. There are some excellent USA boot makers -- Dehner, Whites, Red Wing, Chippewa, probably others...
There are many brands of English shoe that are even closer to the 1930s ideal: Loake, Barkers, and (higher end) Edward Green. The Trickers line of "country" footwear (especially ankle boots) -- designed for mucking around in mud on the family estate -- weigh tons. And good leather will adapt to the wearer's foot, so they're actually comfortable.
The initial cost may be high, but with proper care (and a shoe repairman in the neighborhood) they last for decades, and are completely believable as tools of assassination.
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Pauline Kael said it like this:
"As a secretary working in the hotel, there is a startlingly sexy minx named Joan Crawford, who bears only a slight resemblance to the later zombie of that name; at about 26, she still connected with other actors, and her scenes with Lionel Barrymore show a real rapport."
Absolutely true! And as mentioned, as I'm sure you've seen in the DVD extras, at the Canadian previews, Joan Crawford in fact stole the show so MUCH that Garbo's scenes had to be built up so that her character didn't look bad next to the much more contemporary and likeable Miss Flem. I like Garbo films a lot, but in this she doesn't interact with anyone except John Barrymore and her character isn't as watchable today as Crawford's is. Plus, Crawford gets to share scenes with both of the great Barrymore characters and the best scenes of the film are the ones with her and Lionel.
shareWhat a lovely girl the character created by Joan Crawford!
shareCrawford wasn't that bad, but I do think her acting got better as she got older. Garbo for me walks away with this movie for the simple reason that she has that immortal line... also, I love her and Barrymore. I really wish she and Crawford could have had at least ONE scene!
Jackie: Curfew is your parents' way of saying, 'I *love* you.'
Becky: I curfew, Darlene.
Pauline Kael was one of the most assinine critics reading non existent anti-feminist motives into every film she reviewed. Crawford was great in "Grand Hotel" and she was great in "Mildred Pierce" She gave many great performances throughout her career. Quoting Pauline Kael was, is, and will always be meaningless.
shareI loathe Pauline Kael. The only nice thing she ever said about Crawford was that quote about her performance in GRAND HOTEL. Kael was always trying to read feminist attitudes in all those old films which just didn't exist and if she didn't like an actor she would never cut them a break. The world will always remember CRAWFORD but few other than film afficianados will remember pauline kael - ugh!
shareEm...John and Lionel Barrymore DID have scenes together...a few of them actually.
shareWhat are you talking about. John and Lionel (as Geigern and Kringelein, respectively) had many scenes together.
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The Barrymore brothers had a scene together. After John Barrymore and Joan Crawford meet, Lionel walks up and speaks to them for a minute. Then Wallace Beery calls Joan back and the two Barrymore brothers talk for a little more and even shake hands. You might be confusing one of the brothers with Lewis Stone. He's the one who says, "Nothing ever happens."
shareAnd they had a bunch of scenes together after that. And they also had scenes with Lewis Stone.
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I'm sure most people would say she was better in "Mildred Pierce". But I think that, in many ways, Joan is more realistic, more charming and much more believable in "Grand Hotel". It looks like if she just doesn't perform at all. She just IS. (And what a gal she IS!).
Her look in "Grand Hotel" is absolutely AMAZING-STUNNING. She definitely had THE FACE of the early '30s (what a magic period for movies!). Without a doubt, much more beautiful than Garbo, BY FAR!
But you are, Blanche! You ARE in that chair!
I agree with you, Joan really did steal the movie. Her every scene was perfection. She later said that she worked like a dog on that movie, because she knew she would be working with all the greats and she wanted to be at least on the same level. So she just made up her mind to "use every trick she knew" and it worked! She beat out all those other seasoned pros! Though I do love them all...Except Beery.
It's sort of the same as "Dinner at Eight". Jean Harlow was only 22 in that movie, and she was so nervous to be working with all those experts, but she stole the show!
I much prefer Joan's early career, actually. The films she made before the code came in: "Sadie McKee", "Rain", "Dance, Fools, Dance", etc., all offer a compeletely different Joan than the one we see in her forties film noir period. I actually don't care for her forties films at all, though they're obviously very well done.
She later said that she worked like a dog on that movie, because she knew she would be working with all the greats and she wanted to be at least on the same level.
Jane Badler and June Chadwick ROCK!!!
I can't agree about Garbo, who is radiant here although its far from her best performance. But about Crawford, absolutely! I think it's her greatest performance.
shareI do admit that Joan was beautiful and this was before her "eyebrow" days. However, I cannot agree that she stole the film from Garbo.
sharethis was my first Joan Crawford movie, besides Mildred Pierce and I didn't know what to expect of her. I thought she was very appealing. Quite beautiful.
share
Joan Crawford is indeed wonderful in the film, but I think the interaction of Garbo and Barrymore bings a touch of irrestistible magic and romance to the film which is overwhelming.
Here is an extract from the critique of Vicky Baum which appeared on "Modern Screen". It is most revealing and beautifully written and it is probably the right answer, since it comes from the right source the author of "Grand Hotel", to people who tend to say that Garbo "overacts" in the film:
"...Here Greta Garbo has achieved something which few people expected of her. She has fitted herself into a play and into a cast and has rendered a great performance exactly at that point where the role was contrary to her own being. The twittering, laughing, hopping about, in the tarlatan of a ballet skirt is certainly not what Greta would have sought out as her role. But she has accomplished it. She's gone the whole way which led from her first words, "I have never been so tired in my life", to the last words, "It will be sunny in Tramezzo. We'll have a guest Suzette." That dead-tired face in the beginning-where did Greta get those small sad lines around her mouth and forehead? Then, that face in which - between laughter and tears - love awakens! That face full of wanton joy when she is happy. That face full of fear when she waits for her beloved in vain. Unforgettable! Thank you, Greta Garbo".
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Yeah, I hadn't seen any film with Crawford prior to Grand Hotel and hadn't any idead of what to expect either. But then, WOW! She delivered what I consider to be one of her best performances! I especially love the scene where she is talking to John Barrymore, wittily verifying that she is "a little stenographer". Very smart dialogue!
shareYes, that scene with Barrymore is great!
"Don't little stenographers make little pennies?"
"Very little!"
They had the camera circling around the two throughout that dialogue because it was supposed to be representative of the way John Barrymore's character was circling around Joan's, moving in for the kill so to speak!
I get the feeling you're violating somebody's basic human rights here...
with her over expressive posturing and hand gesturesYou have to remember the character is a prima ballerina. Hence, the physical expressiveness.
I absolutley agree with OP. Crawford was terrific! I think L. Barrymore and John Barrymore were great too.
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Definantly! joan just has this presence that steals your attention!
you really remember her talent..and her face!! haha
I swear my auntys the spit of her.. really cool xD
Love&&Laugh-Thats It
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